Chuckanut Run

Saturday I had some fun running with a few friends who, well let’s just say they are ultra runners, and very talented ones at that; Krissy Moehl, John Stamstad and Justin Angle. We ran the middle 18 miles (the interesting and hilly miles) of the Chuckanut Mountain 50k Trail Run. Since I’ve never been to Chuckanut Mountain I had no idea that the Chuckanut course was so awesome. There was 3” of snow up the dirt road, but most of the 18 miles was beautiful undulating trail, with a couple big climbs and incredible views of the Puget Sound and the surrounding mountains. At the end of the Lost Lake Overlook loop there was a bit of mud, so it’s doubtful there will be any course records set if the conditions don’t change this week. By the way, the record for the 50k/31 mile course with over 5,000 feet of gain was set last year by Uli Steidl at 3:43. That is fast. Chuckanut mountain is south of Bellingham, WA and the course runs through the Larrabee State Park. Since I’m not racing I am going to volunteer and help at aid station 3/4. My teammates Glenn Rogers and Tyler Patterson are racing so it will be fun to cheer them on as they come through this late race aid station suffering. =)

training jibber jabber

I’m sure someone is curious what kind of days I am putting in… here is the last two, nothing special:

Yesterday
Run: 3:31 intensity – 18 miles 4,800 feet of gain
Bike: 1 hour easy overdistance (heart rate level 1)

Today
Bike: 1 hour spin class (intensity), 86 minutes easy overdistance, 26 minutes of hill climbing
Run: 31 min easy level 1
Weights: 26 min (chest, abs, stretching)

Still early season so I am focusing on my base training. Base training describes my focus or goal for this time period or mesocycle. A mesocycle simply defines a period of training that has one focus or goal (typically a 4-8 week period). This is my recovery week in this mesocycle. That means this week will have my lowest total training hours of the last 4 weeks. Base training is typically long, slow, low intensity training. Although my last two days are bad examples of low intensity, they are good examples of how you do need some intensity even in your base training mesocycle. You won't see me doing any race pace at this point and the intensity work is kept to a very low percentage of my overall training. Jibber jabber.

If you don't train and you read the above text I leave you this as my apology. A confession from a doping shithead - http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/9497.0.html

Hunger Defines Me

I recently read this article in Dime Magazine that Kobe Bryant wrote. He starts the article with the sentence “Hunger defines me”. I am not a Kobe Bryant fan really, but you have to admire his passion and dedication. In this article he discusses what motivates him; insecurities, fear of not winning another championship, the challenge of proving his doubters wrong, etc. It’s a very interesting read. I guess insecurities can work for you at times.

This quote struck me as I can relate to the bit about leaving it on the court or in my case the course. "When they (fans) leave they’ll leave with the understanding that they have just witnessed a player give himself completely to his passion; they have just watched an athlete pour every ounce of his heart and soul out on that floor." To succeed you have to be willing to sacrifice, you have to be willing to pour every ounce of your heart and soul into what you are doing.

So... are you letting others expectations direct you? Are you giving yourself completely to your passion?